Israel and Hamas Agree to Ceasefires for Polio Vaccination in Gaza
Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement to implement three separate, zoned three-day ceasefires in the Gaza Strip to facilitate a critical polio vaccination campaign. The announcement was made by Rik Peeperkorn, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) office for the West Bank and Gaza, during a briefing at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday.
The temporary pauses in fighting will commence on September 1 and will be implemented in phases. The first ceasefire will cover central Gaza, followed by a second in southern Gaza, and a third in northern Gaza. Each ceasefire will be in effect from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. local time.
The polio vaccination campaign aims to immunize approximately 640,000 children, providing two doses of the vaccine to each child from birth to 10 years old. This initiative comes in response to Gaza’s first reported case of poliovirus infection in 25 years.
Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that primarily affects children under five years of age. It spreads mainly through the fecal-oral route and, less commonly, through contaminated food or water. The WHO underscores the importance of the vaccination campaign in preventing the resurgence of this debilitating disease.
